Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake Long Sleeve Hoody Review

Bottom Line

Overall, the Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake Long Sleeve Hoody (males’s / ladies’s) is a tremendous solar shirt. The knit materials feels luxuriously gentle whereas nonetheless delivering good breathability and wicking powers. The drawbacks are slight and nit-picky: the material clings to the higher arms; the drawstring on the hem feels awkward; the hood doesn’t match nicely with no hat beneath; and the seams on the thumbholes started to put on after simply a few makes use of. 

This solar shirt’s mixture of advantages awarded it the Best Pick for Summer Comfort in our information to the most effective solar shirts. When you’re already restricted on luxuries whereas on the path, the comfortable issue on this hoodie goes a great distance. The UPF 50 score, hood, and thumb holes are additionally a present to your future self, maintaining you coated and shielded from the solar when you journey. 

This high is nice for day hikers wishing to go for longer adventures. It dries faster than different knits, weighs much less, feels good as a layer beneath fleeces, and breathes nicely however doesn’t really feel too technical.

How We Tested

We examined this solar hoody on day hikes in gentle temperatures. We additionally loaded up our in a single day pack to see how this high works on backpacking journeys. We strolled, walked, jogged, and lounged on this high to gauge its breathability, consolation, wicking, versatility, and dry time. 

Comfort

The Crater Lake’s material is divine –– delivering a silky gentle, nearly brushed feeling in opposition to the pores and skin. Common sense would say {that a} material this gentle can be thicker and hotter, however this high is the lightest weight knit within the 2024 solar shirt overview and even fourth lightest total. 

The shirt matches nicely and the material stretches when wanted, which was to be anticipated from the knits on this class. The match does really feel a little bit extra comfortable in comparison with others within the Best Sun Shirts for 2024 overview so that you may need to dimension up in case you’re between sizes.. It’s relaxed and drapey within the physique, however does hug the arms.  

Overall, this shirt is an opulent expertise worthy of notoriety for its sheer lightness, gentle contact, and glorious breathability.

Sun Protection

This shirt gives glorious solar safety. It has a UPF 50 score, thumbholes, and a hood. 

The thumb holes are very snug, even when the arms are outstretched. They offered full protection of the hand, hiding all the best way as much as the knuckle to maintain your entire again of the hand protected. The material is so stretchy that pulling the sleeve round your hand can be straightforward with out utilizing the thumbholes. Be cautious of stretching this shirt an excessive amount of, as UPF score decreases when material is stretched.  

The hood initially felt prefer it match nice, however as we have been mountaineering uphill, the rattling factor stored falling again off our heads. The ironic half is that it was a uncommon nonetheless day in Reno –– not many days that we don’t have wind right here! We have been getting fairly pissed off with the hood falling off on this windless day, so we couldn’t think about how ineffective the hood can be in tougher climate. It did match higher with a hat on beneath.

Breathability & Wicking Power

When testing, we hiked a loaded in a single day pack up the Sierra Front Trail in Reno, Nevada on a sunny, 50-plus-degree day. After the most important climbs, as we panted for breath, a little bit sweat saturatedthe shirt, but we didn’t really feel stuffy or like sweat was pooling up on our pores and skin. 

After taking our packs off for the preliminary climb, we have been stunned to see how a lot sweat the shirt picked up across the hip belt, on the again, and beneath the arms. There was a superb quantity of sweat, however I didn’t really feel any of that whereas mountaineering. As we hiked extra, we realized that the material clings a bit extra when sweaty and feels chilly. 

Unfortunately, this doesn’t dry as shortly as a few of the different top-rated solar shirts, but it surely falls someplace in the midst of the pack.

Versatility

The versatility of this shirt is funky and really subjective. Our gear analysts didn’t significantly discover the zippered pocket on the aspect that helpful. It is giant sufficient to suit keys or two small bars, however not each. While working on this shirt with keys within the pocket, the drape of the material that we cherished a lot earlier than made the keys bang round. We discovered it annoying, however others may not. 

Most notably, the tie on the hem on the ladies’s model is a bit awkward. I’m not going to lie—this looks like a type of “feminine” design parts that’s completely out of date. We didn’t discover that it helped alter the match or consolation of the highest (these classes are already 10s in our eyes!). Instead, we discovered it to be a bit awkward, drooping down in our crotches and flopping round as we walked. Again, which may not trouble everybody. 

We additionally discovered that we needed to maintain switching from fleece to no fleece over after this shirt grew to become sweaty. It was too chilly on the 50-degree day to only put on a skinny, moist material, however this grew to become too scorching beneath a fleece. 

Finally, there is likely to be some high quality points. Straight out of the washer, some threads have been coming free, and a few threads gave the impression of they have been ripping once we have been altering out and in of it. The opening for the thumbholes isn’t stitched right down to the sleeve, so the stitching is uncovered and prone to snagging.

Should You Buy the Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake Hoody?

The Mountain Hardwear Crater Lake is a superb possibility for individuals who need one thing a bit extra technical than their common knit however nonetheless has that traditional stretch, softness, and excellent solar safety that knits excel at. It works nicely for informal hikes andthe zippered pocket is the right place to stash keys in case you don’t need to take a pack. 

This would even be a superb possibility for longer adventures as it’ll dry quicker than different knits. This looks like a sensible choice for somebody mountaineering 5-10 miles who needs one thing technical,  snug, and inside finances. 

This may not be the only option for somebody who’s in search of an ultra- fast drying layer to tackle adventures like backcountry snowboarding, the place a lot of sweat and chilly temperatures must be anticipated.

What Other Sun Shirts Should You Consider?

Before you make up your thoughts, make sure to take a look at our information to the most effective solar shirts. Here are some choices which are much like the Crater Lake Hoody:

Milk & Whiskey Chaser Review: Another nice possibility for informal day hikes is the Milk & Whiskey Chaser solar hoodie. It has a snug match, actually gentle material, zippered pocket, and solar protecting options. It is barely pricier than the Mountain Hardwear, however looks like higher high quality supplies and extra versatility for cooler climate. 

Minus 33 Micro Weight 1/4 Zip Sun Hoodie Woolverino Review: Soft, light-weight, and an excellent mixture of breathable and wicking. This one isn’t fairly as gentle because the Mountain Hardwear however its wool base guarantees to get softer over time. It has solar protecting options, however solely has a UPF score of 20 which locations it under the Skin Cancer Foundations suggestion for cover. However, this high is simply as gentle, with extra versatility and larger total consolation. 

Arc’teryx Taema / Cormac Hoody Review: Though extra technical than the Crater Lake, the Arc’teryx is a superb selection for layering in cool climate. It is light-weight, breathable, and glorious at wicking. It resists odors and dries shortly.  This possibility is costlier and never as snug because the Mountain Hardwear, however could also be a greater bang for buck for its long-lasting high quality and year-round utility.